Wendy Gannett of Easthampton was one of 266 swimmers (there were also 80 kayaks, 6 walkers, and 20 people swimming in place) in the 35th Swim for Life and Paddler Flotilla in Provincetown on Sept. 10. It was her first. Read on for more photos. (Photos by Nancy Bloom)
Swim for Life
STILL KICKING
The Swim Comes Back to Life
243 swimmers, 150 volunteers, and countless prayer ribbons on Sept. 11
PROVINCETOWN — When 243 swimmers dove into the Swim for Life and Paddler Flotilla on Saturday, “It was a joyful return to the water,” said Jay Critchley, creator of the event and director of the Provincetown Community Compact, the organization that sponsors it. Last year’s event was conducted remotely because of the pandemic.
In Provincetown, the Swim started in the far East End, near the Breakwater and Harbor hotels. From there, 171 swimmers followed a route close to the shore, covering 1.2 miles to the finish line at the new East End Waterfront Park.
In years past, participants swam from Long Point across the harbor, but the presence of sharks inspired a new route. Critchley, ever optimistic, pointed out an upside: this way people can cheer from waterfront houses as swimmers splash by.
A Cessna airplane flew overheard, sharkspotting, just in case. It was supplied by Cape Cod Ocean Community, a Wellfleet-based nonprofit that advocates for shark safety awareness and surveillance.
Another 39 participants joined the Swim at Great Pond in Wellfleet. That course, for those who are “harborly challenged,” as Critchley put it, covered about two-thirds of a mile. Joan Nagle, 87, the swimming coach who first organized the Great Pond event in 2019, helped train and encourage the Great Pond Mermaids team this year.
With 33 other people taking part by “swimming in place” around the country, a total of 243 people jumped into the fundraiser this year. In addition, 150 or so volunteers kayaked, staffed the Mermaid Tea at the finish line, and worked to register swimmers at the Boatslip. Zoë Lewis saw to the music.
Swim for Life celebrates “the healing waters and ecology of the harbor,” according to Critchley, and money raised by the Swim goes primarily to the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, Helping Our Women, and Outer Cape Health Services. Other local nonprofit organizations that promote health also benefit; those include Provincetown Rescue Squad Association, Lower Cape Ambulance Association, Soup Kitchen in Provincetown, Provincetown Schools, the Compact Community Fund, Accessible Provincetown, the West End Racing Club, and Cape Cod Children’s Place.
Forty-three swimmers and kayakers raised a thousand dollars or more and joined the $1,000 Club, according to Critchley. His rundown of this year’s top fundraisers noted that artist Jim Youngerman of Lenox, who designed this year’s Swim T-shirt, raised $12,433; Boe Morgan of the Moving Violations Team from Roslindale raised $10,683; Barbara Jo Ravelle of Wellfleet raised $6,198; Jonathan Scott of Provincetown pulled in $3,977; and Katherine Gail Strickland of Provincetown, a member of the Compact’s board, raised $3,585. Business sponsors provide a boost to the fundraising effort as well.
Ten-year swimmers Laurie Shields and Thomas Keske received Circle of Honor pendants created by Christie Andreson. Special recognition was given to Joe Stewart from Baltimore, Md., who swam for the 31st time. Stewart also organizes a sister Swim for Life in Maryland.
The sun sparkled on the day of the Swim, Saturday, Sept. 11. In remembrance of all that was lost on that date 20 years ago, the finish line at the East End Waterfront Park was marked by a 150-foot semi-circle on the beach, strung with prayer ribbons that blew in the breeze against a perfect blue sky.
BUOYANCY
Joan Nagle Is Outer Cape’s Swimming Guru
At 87, she still inspires swimmers to trust the water
WELLFLEET — Buoyancy. That’s the key to being a good swimmer, according to Joan Nagle, the Outer Cape’s unofficial swimming guru.
“A lot of people think they need their arms and their legs to stay up,” Nagle says. “But the main thing is you have to feel your buoyancy. You have to trust yourself in the water and trust the water itself.”
Nagle, now 87 years old, has been swimming her whole life.
“When I was four, my father encouraged me to jump off a raft and go for the shore,” she recalls.
Nagle has lived at Seashore Point in Provincetown since March 2020, but she grew up in New Haven, Conn., where she swam for the New Haven YMCA. She was pretty good. When she was 15, she was one of about 12 swimmers to represent the state of Connecticut at a national competition in Orlando, Fla. Her main event was the 200-meter breaststroke.
Back then, she says, there were no lane lines and swimmers didn’t wear goggles. “There was no pressure in those days,” Nagle says. “I was a kid who went and swam.”
Nagle practically swam her way to the Outer Cape. She used to swim the Long Island Sound. She came to the Cape full time in the 1970s and served as the aquatics director at Sandwich High School from 1987 to 1997. Now, for more than a decade, she’s been swimming the ponds of the Outer Cape. Great Pond in Truro and Great Pond in Wellfleet are two of her favorites.
Twelve years ago, Nagle started a women’s swim class through the Wellfleet Council on Aging. The group meets at Great Pond in Wellfleet throughout the summer and fall.
What it’s given her, Nagle says, is “the gratification of teaching people who had a fear of water.”
The class started with just a few women, but now 30 are registered. They come from Eastham, Wellfleet, and Truro to do water aerobics and swimming exercises together. This summer, the class has met regularly on Monday and Friday mornings.
“Joan taught us how to swim properly,” says Christine Shreeves of Wellfleet.
Nagle was the instructor until June this year. When she decided to take a step back, five students — Shreeves, Candace Perry, Chery Watkinson, Bonnie Kramer, and Mary Goodhouse — stepped up to take her place. But she remains the group’s guidestar.
“She’s our original inspiration and instructor,” says Watkinson.
“Our mentor,” adds Kramer.
After class, the women usually go out for coffee and breakfast.
Nagle relishes time with these friends. She remembers when there weren’t a lot of opportunities for women in sports.
“It wasn’t very popular to be a woman athlete growing up,” Nagle said. “It was cheerleading, cheerleading, or cheerleading.”
Nagle attended Purdue University from 1951 to 1955 and swam for the Lafayette Country Club, a competitive swim team established in 1948.
“It was the only place a woman could swim,” she said. Nagle swam competitively during her first two years and after that got into synchronized swimming.
She organized the first Swim for Life event at Great Pond in Wellfleet in 2019. Swim for Life, started by Jay Critchley and Walter McLean in 1988, is a fundraiser for the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod. Traditionally, it takes place in Provincetown Harbor. This year’s course, which stays close to shore, is 1.2 miles long.
The Great Pond swim is an extension of the event for those who are “harborly challenged,” as Critchley puts it. The pond course covers about two-thirds of a mile, and a group of Nagle’s students participate in it together as a team — the Wellfleet Great Pond Mermaids.
Nagle doesn’t swim as much as she used to, but she finished the Swim for Life course in Great Pond in 2019. And she still enjoys the water.
“One thing you can do for your whole life is swimming,” she says.
Candace Perry remembers finishing the harbor swim in Provincetown a few years back. It took her two hours, and she felt pretty good about that time, until she found out Nagle had finished in 55 minutes.
Swimmers and Paddlers
This year’s 34th Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla is set for Saturday, Sept. 11. Swimmers will follow a new shoreline route, and SharkWatch will monitor the harbor for creatures before and during the swim, according to Jay Critchley, who organizes the annual fundraiser to benefit the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, Helping Our Women, Outer Cape Health Services, and other community organizations.
Christie Andresen will be honored with the David Asher volunteer award, and Jim Youngerman created this year’s artwork for the Swim.
New this year are an afternoon starting time and a Mermaid Tea at Waterfront Park. There will also be a morning Swim at Wellfleet’s Great Pond.
Vaccinations are required for all participants and spectators.
The minimum pledge to participate is $100.
Find details on the schedule and register at the Swim for Life website: swim4life.org.
CURRENTS
This Week in Provincetown
Meetings Ahead
Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch.
Thursday, Oct. 1
- Recycling & Renewable Energy Committee, 10 a.m.
- Public Pier Corp., 1 p.m.
- Select Board, 3 p.m.
- Licensing Board, 5 p.m.
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 5 p.m.
- School Committee, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 6
- Council on Aging Board, 1:30 p.m.
- Historic District Commission, 4 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 7
- Conservation Commission, 6 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 8
- Scholarship & Trust Administration Committee, 3 p.m.
Conversation Starters
Covid-19 Update
As of Sept. 29, there were zero new cases of Covid-19, 32 cases considered recovered, and one death as a result of the virus in Provincetown.
Lower Cape Ambulance Food Drive
The Lower Cape Ambulance Association, town agencies, and local organizations have partnered to hold a 17-day food drive beginning Thursday, Oct. 1.
Drop-off boxes will be available at the following locations in Provincetown and Truro: Helping Our Women in Provincetown, Seamen’s Bank’s two branches in Provincetown and Seamen’s Bank in Truro, and Salty Market in Truro, according to an announcement from Leslie Sandberg, spokesperson for Provincetown’s Covid-19 response effort.
Another opportunity for donations can be found at the Provincetown Crop Swap, located at Provincetown Public Library, which operates similarly to the swap shop at the town transfer station, except with food. People can drop off fresh, uncut fruits and vegetables or take some home.
The organizations collaborating on the drive include the Provincetown Food Pantry (Lower Cape Outreach Council), Provincetown Crop Swap (a joint effort of the Provincetown Health Dept., Provincetown Public Library, and SKIP), AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, Helping Our Women, the Soup Kitchen in Provincetown, Provincetown Council on Aging, and Truro Council on Aging. The food and funds donated will help the people of the Outer and Lower Cape through each of these organizations.
Alex Juchniewich, Provincetown’s community support liaison and a case manager for the Homeless Prevention Council, said the council has seen a dramatic increase in the number of families in need of services during the pandemic.
“Our Back-to-School Backpack Program served 200 families this year, versus the usual 130 to150,” Juchniewich said. “I’ve received multiple calls reporting housing, financial, and food insecurities. Families are diverting funds to meet expenses, and access to healthy food is definitely a concern for many.”
Donation checks can be mailed to Lower Cape Ambulance, P.O. Box 1721, Provincetown, MA 02657. Please note that it’s for LCAA Food Drive. Or donations can be made online at the Lower Cape Ambulance Facebook page, or on the Lower Cape Ambulance Association website, lowercapeambulance.org.
The ‘Swim’ Happened
No, you didn’t see the orange-swim-capped masses plunging through the harbor from Long Point to the Boatslip. But even in the year when festivals were squashed by the fear of a deadly virus, the Swim for Life still attracted 220 swimmers, kayakers, and volunteers, who raised $110,000 for nonprofits, according to founder and director Jay Critchley.
From oceans, pools, and ponds all over the U.S., swimmers pulled together to support the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, Helping Our Women, Outer Cape Health Services, and other local charities and nonprofits. On Sept. 12, a virtual Swim festival bestowed Marianne Clements with the David Asher Volunteer Award and recognized Joe Stewart of Baltimore, Md., for completing his 30th swim.
Top fundraisers include Jim Youngerman, who raised over $16,000 and swam in Lenox and on Cape Cod; Hilary McHugh of Provincetown, who swam a mile daily from July 31 to Sept. 12 and raised over $8,000; organizer Jay Critchley, who swam for the first time since 1988, raising over $7,000; Barbara Jo Ravelle, who swam a mile daily from Aug. 15 to Sept. 15 in Duck Pond in Wellfleet and raised over $4,500; Maura Twomey, an open water swimmer who swam the English Channel in 2015 and raised over $4,500. Also, Reenie Desabrais of Provincetown, Jon Drew MacClaren of Sheffield, and Kathryn Rafter and Francie Beal of Dallas, Texas, all raised over or near $3,000. Jason Greene of Provincetown and Chris Nagle of Truro raised over $2,000. Other $1,000 Club participants include Christine Croteau of Worcester, Laurie M Shields of Sterling, Susan Goldberg of Provincetown, Jane Barber of Provincetown and Breckenridge, Colo., Joe Stewart of Baltimore, Md., George Stamides of Burlington, Bill Silvestri of Quincy, and Erik Koper of West Newton. —K.C. Myers
CURRENTS
This Week in Provincetown
Meetings Ahead
Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch.
Thursday, Sept. 10
- Animal Welfare Committee, 12 noon
- Public Pier Corp., 2 p.m.
- Provincetown School Committee, 5 p.m.
- Finance Committee, 4 p.m.
- Planning Board, 6 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 11
- Recycling & Renewable Energy Committee, 10 a.m.
Monday, Sept. 14
- Select Board, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 15
- Conservation Commission, 6 p.m.
- Licensing Board, 3 p.m.
- Year-Round Rental Housing Board of Trustees, 4 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 16
- Historic District Commission, 4 p.m.
- Town Meeting Town Forum, 6 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 17
- Scholarship & Trust Administration Committee, 3 p.m.
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m.
Conversation Starters
Covid-19 Update
As of Sept. 8, there were zero active cases of Covid-19 in town, 32 cases considered recovered, and one death.
Fire at Sal’s Place
A candle was the source of a fire that caused an estimated $50,000 in damage to the waterfront restaurant Sal’s Place on Monday, Sept. 7 shortly after 6 p.m., said Fire Chief Michael Trovato.
“Evidently they were using live candles in the bathroom, which I don’t want them to do and told them to stop doing,” Trovato said.
He thinks something, perhaps a hand towel, fell on the candle and flames went up the wall. The staff of the restaurant emptied three dry chemical fire extinguishers but then called the fire dept. Firefighters detected hot spots in the ceiling, walls, and roof, Trovato said.
In the end, the health agent closed the business until it can be cleaned and repairs made to the electrical system, roof, and walls, the chief said.
He noted that the restaurant staff did the right thing by calling the fire dept. even though it appeared they had doused all flames.
Swim for Life, Wherever You Are
About 200 swimmers are registered for the 33rd Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla, the fund-raising event that usually takes over Provincetown Harbor on the Saturday after Labor Day, as hundreds of swimmers cross from Long Point to the beach at the Boatslip Resort.
But this year, the registered swimmers are doing their own swims, jogs, or rowing challenges wherever they live, while raising money for various nonprofits who count on the Swim as an annual funding source. These organizations include Helping Our Women, the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, and Outer Cape Health Services.
To get into the spirit of the day there be a virtual event, scheduled from 11 a.m. to noon, which will air on the Swim for Life Facebook page and on Provincetown TV. It will be co-hosted by Swim founder Jay Critchley and Ginny Binder, who is chair of the Provincetown Community Compact, the sponsor of Swim for Life and other charities. The event will include archival footage of the Swim, music by Zoe Lewis, awards, and special guests.
This year, Marianne Clements, vice president of human services at Seamen’s Bank and a dedicated Swim for Life volunteer, will receive the annual Swim for Life David Asher Volunteer Award, stated Critchley in a press release.
Clements is the current chair of the Provincetown Personnel Board, former chair and current member of the Provincetown Planning Board, and former member of the Provincetown Zoning Board of Appeals. She is also a board member of Pilgrim Bark Park and the Provincetown Film Society. She was a board member and past chair of Helping Our Women.
For more information contact: www.swim4life.org.
9-11 Ceremony for Sept. 11th Will Be Private
Provincetown police and fire personnel will remember those first responders and civilians who lost their lives in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Penn. But this year, the public is not invited to the ceremony due to the pandemic.
The event takes place for invited public safety personnel on Friday, Sept. 11, at 9 a.m. at Motta Field, according to the organizer, Jim Keefe. —K.C. Myers
Paved Paradise
Performer Zoë Lewis and artist Jay Critchley, in conjunction with Swim for Life, are presenting Tarmac Tuesday, an event to clean up the eroded tarmac at Herring Cove Beach. It will take place Tuesday, September 1st, at 5 p.m. Go to Zoë Lewis’s Facebook page for details.
Arts Briefs and Listings
Arts Briefs for May 28 through June 3
Swim for Life Does More Than Tread Water
Instead of having a crowd of people running into the bay at Provincetown’s beach, this year’s Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla, sponsored by the Provincetown Community Compact, will be a “Swimming in Place” fund-raising challenge, in which participants join teams and raise money by swimming in their bathtub, in a pool, in a pond, or doing non-aquatic activities. The aim is to maintain social distancing. The challenge will be capped off with a virtual event on Sept. 12. Prayer ribbons will be displayed, as always, in the Provincetown library.
The Swim for Life raises money for AIDS support, women’s health, and the community. To participate, go to Swim4Life.org.
Compact founder Jay Critchley tells the Independent that the term “swimming” takes on a more metaphorical meaning this year. “I’m developing the choreography for a Swim for Life dance,” he says. “Somebody already said that they’ll be running up and down the stairs in their house. It could be anything, making a challenging dish at home, doing something for the community.”
All participants will get a Swim for Life swim cap, and those who raise $100 will get a T-shirt with artwork by Duane Slick, a Native American artist with longstanding ties to Provincetown. Critchley says that he felt it was imperative to have an indigenous artist create the Swim’s logo this year, due to the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s arrival here.
“People can wear their swim cap when riding their bike, jogging, when they’re in the bathtub, whatever they are doing,” Critchley says. He’s hoping for some humorous pictures on social media.
The significance of the event is greater now than ever. “Initially, the impetus for Swim for Life was an environmental one,” Critchley says. Back in the summer of 1988, Critchley and his friend Walter McLean would swim across the harbor because most of the town beaches were closed due to pollution. Weeks later, they organized the first Swim for Life to raise money for HIV/AIDS. Since then, they have added other charities, such as Helping Our Women, and, this year, Outer Cape Health Services and the Covid-19 Task Force.
“Swim for Life developed in response to HIV, but now we have a very different pandemic,” Critchley says. “The town still knows how to rally and come together.” —Saskia Maxwell Keller
Bakker Auctions Kicks Off Season Online
James Bakker, one of Provincetown’s resident experts on art colony history, has been holding online auctions for years, so the pandemic hasn’t changed things all that much. His spring auction of classic and contemporary Provincetown art, now on view at bakkerproject.com, will unfold live on Saturday, May 30, at 1 p.m.
A highlight of the selection up for bid is a rare 1905 oil landscape of Provincetown by Charles Webster Hawthorne, valued at $15,000 to $20,000. Works by Ray Nolin, Cynthia Packard, George Yater, Arthur Cohen, Harvey Dodd, Lois Griffel, and John Clayton will also be offered.
After registering, you may make bids until a lot has closed. If your bid clinches the sale, the work can be picked up or shipped later
James Frederick to the Power of Six
As reductions in pollution as a result of the coronavirus shutdown continue to have an effect on the landscape, sky, and light, one can’t help but wonder how painting on the Cape will be affected as well. This is precisely the question that Provincetown artist James Frederick explores in his new exhibit, “S6: Sand Salt Sea Surf Sky & Sun,” which will be streamed live online on Saturday, May 30, at 7 p.m. on Frederick Studio Provincetown’s Facebook and Instagram pages. The show will include new and recent works traversing the full gambit from figurative to abstract.
Broadway, Broadcasted
Broadway star Kelli O’Hara was scheduled to appear at Provincetown Town Hall this August with Seth Rudetsky on the piano as host, presented by the Art House. That was then. Now, with Broadway and Provincetown theaters shut down, O’Hara and Rudetsky will chat and perform live online on Sunday, May 31, at 8 p.m. and Monday, June 1, at 3 p.m. at thesethconcertseries.com. Tickets are $20 (early birds) and $25.
In 2015, O’Hara received the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Anna Leonowens in The King and I. Her Broadway credits include Kiss Me, Kate; South Pacific; and The Light in the Piazza. She has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in The Merry Widow and Così fan tutte.
Kim McAninch Evokes the Idyllic in Wellfleet
“Idyll,” the title of painter Kim McAninch’s new exhibit at Wellfleet Preservation Hall, is defined in the show’s announcement as “an extremely happy, peaceful, or picturesque episode or scene, typically an idealized or unsustainable one.” It is a fitting topic for a time when we can step back and appreciate, with sudden intensity, the things we take for granted.
McAninch studied surface pattern design at Miami University. Her exhibit, which is running currently through June 18, will be available for virtual viewing at wellfleetpreservationhall.org, although it hadn’t been set up at press time.
Ptown Gallery Stroll Launches Website
The Ptown Gallery Stroll, a group of more than 30 galleries in Provincetown, is coordinating efforts to ensure safe and efficient operations during the current health crisis.
The group’s broader mission is “to foster a sense of community and mutual support among gallery owners, as well as explore strategies for promoting Provincetown as a thriving art and design community both today and into the future,” a press release announced.
The group’s website, ptowngallerystroll.com, is expected to go live on Friday, May 29. Participating galleries will be represented. Information for visitors will also be included.
ENVIRONMENT
Culling Seals Is Wrong Answer to Shark Threat, Scientists Say
Larger seal population seen as sign of healthy environment
PROVINCETOWN — Calls to curb the seal population in Cape Cod waters by ending their protected status under federal law are misguided, say scientists who study marine ecology. In spite of the increased presence of great white sharks here, they say, the return of both seals and sharks represents a re-establishment of the balance of nature that was upset by decades of seal hunting.
Moreover, seals are wrongly blamed for polluting the water with their feces, and their effect on fish populations has been exaggerated, according to experts in marine life.
Citizen groups like the Nantucket-based Seal Action Committee are calling for the removal of seals from the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act. The Barnstable County Commissioners heard a presentation from that group last month, and Commissioner Ron Beaty has argued that seals are a threat to the regional tourist economy. The evidence on the economy suggests otherwise.
Richard Delaney, president of the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (CCS), says the seal population will eventually stabilize once it reaches its carrying capacity in the Cape’s waters. Disease, predation from sharks, and limited food availability will “re-establish the balance that we really knocked out of kilter when we decided to interfere with it,” he said.
Before 1800, seals inhabited the Cape in large numbers. “This was a natural habitat for them for years, until people decided that they were a nuisance,” Delaney said.
From the late 1800s through the early 1960s, the state maintained a bounty on seals. “If you were a citizen of Cape Cod and killed a seal and brought its nose to town hall, you’d get a payment,” Delaney said. “That bounty put on seals basically eliminated all the seals in this area.”
In 1972 Congress passed the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which prohibited killing seals and whales. “Once they were protected, seals were able to re-establish their natural niche in the ecosystem,” Delaney said. “That’s why from 1972 to now we have seen an increase in the population.”
Responding to the shark threat
The risk of shark attack, though small, is real. Rather than killing sharks or seals, however, marine scientists advocate more caution in the water. One example of that approach is a change of course for Provincetown’s popular annual Swim for Life, scheduled for Sept. 7 this year.
Instead of crossing the open water of Provincetown Harbor from Long Point to the Boatslip Resort, as swimmers have done for each of the past 31 years, participants will instead swim along the coast.
Swim for Life organizers decided to change the route two weeks ago, when the Cape Cod National Seashore denied a permit for the usual course because of concerns about shark activity.
“It’s a low risk, but if something were to happen it would be a major catastrophe,” said Jay Critchley, director of the Provincetown Community Compact, which has sponsored the swim since its inception. Compact directors have discussed the possibility of alternate routes for several years as shark activity has increased, Critchley said.
“The Compact board and Park Service were on the same page this year” about changing course, he said. This year, the swim will begin at the Provincetown Inn and finish, as usual, at the Boatslip.
Critchley hopes the coastal route will mitigate fear among participants. “Every time I talk with somebody about the Swim for Life, they bring up Jaws,” he said. “That movie really scared people about being in nature.”
Intense media coverage of the two shark attacks last summer in Truro and Wellfleet did not help. “The heightened public awareness and public concern about sharks, plus a lot of video — it’s just been an extravaganza,” he said.
The evidence on seals and culling
Andrea Bogomolni, chair of the Northeast Atlantic Seal Research Consortium, confirmed that the large seal population has both increased shark activity and caused some fish-stealing. As fish struggle against lines, they tire out, making them an easy dinner for seals.
“Much of the recreational catch is thrown overboard [after being caught], so the discarded fish also attracts seals,” Bogomolni said.
Provincetown charter boat Capt. Mike Rathgeber is concerned about the seals’ effect on Cape Cod’s ecosystems. But the seals have not been bad for business. In fact, Rathgeber said, “I’ve been using seals as a fish finder.” Seals hauled out on a beach typically indicate a large supply of fish in the surrounding waters.
The recreational anglers that Rathgeber hosts also enjoy a “seal show” as the animals swarm around the boat to devour scraps left over from filleting.
For all their cuteness, seals can be a nuisance, often eating the fish off Rathgeber’s lines. When a seal starts its attack on the hooked fish, “the only recourse we have is to cut the line and give it to them, but it also means the seal is eating the hook,” he said. “It happens very frequently, almost on a daily basis.”
But market fish are not the seals’ primary source of food, according to preliminary results from a CCS research study. Delaney said seals primarily eat sand lances, small fish of about four or five inches, which are not fished for human consumption.
“Seals actually eat an awful lot of things other than the striped bass and bluefish that the fishermen complain about,” Delaney said.
Furthermore, seals do not contribute to water pollution. Delaney said that rigorous studies have not been able to prove a correlation between pollution and the presence of seals.
“We human beings are far more culpable for putting pollution into the ocean than seals could ever be,” he said.
Moreover, any effort to cull seals would be unlikely to have much effect. Even if all the seals in Cape Cod waters were exterminated, more would come to replace them. Delaney said that the 450,000 seals currently living in Nova Scotia would quickly fill the gap.
“Once some of the seals realized it was safe, they could expand their habitat back down here,” he said. “The whole idea of culling seals is not based in science and does not understand the ecological relationships seals have in the ocean.” Seals play important roles in the coastal ecosystem, and their large numbers are a sign of a healthy environment.
Climate change is not to blame for the booming seal population, at least not directly, Bogomolni said. Although some species, like lobster, are migrating farther north to find cooler water, the seals’ diverse diet allows them greater flexibility in habitat.
Adapting to a changing environment
The increase in the seal population has undoubtedly caused some growing pains, but adapting to evolving environmental conditions also creates new possibilities for communities on the Outer Cape.
For example, the Swim for Life’s new course may make the event more accessible. With less risk of shark attack, “We’re hoping that there will actually be more swimmers this year,” Critchley said.
This year, the Community Compact is also hoping to host a satellite swim, which would take place at the same time as the Provincetown event in Wellfleet’s Great Pond. The Compact is still awaiting approval from the Wellfleet Select Board for the alternate kettle pond swim.
Aqua aerobics instructor Joan Nagle, who is helping to organize the satellite swim, said that she encouraged the women in her class to participate.
“We’re very excited about the pond swim simply because I think we’re going to reach another part of the population that probably could have never done the one in the harbor,” Nagle said. In Provincetown Harbor swimmers must navigate boats, buoys, currents, and waves. But in Great Pond, “You don’t have all the variables — like cold water — which you do in the bay or ocean. You don’t even need a wetsuit.”
The Swim for Life is a benefit for HIV/AIDS treatment, community well-being, and women’s health, and has raised over $6.5 million since its inception in 1988. Swimmer and boater registration begins at 7 a.m. at the Boatslip Resort on Saturday, Sept. 7, and the public is invited to welcome the swimmers to shore at the Boatslip starting at 8:30 a.m., followed by a brunch at 11.